This issue sponsored by

http://www.aiche.org/CCPS/Publications/Beacon/index.aspx
www.aiche.org/ccps www.iomosaic.com
Messages for Manufacturing Personnel
What Does That Button Do?  November 2019

A safety system needs to have a well-defined purpose.

When activated, it must reliably respond with the action,
including a stop (ESD, emergency shutdown), as designed.
Do you know how these safety systems operate for your
processes? If you ask others how they expect these systems to
operate, do you get different answers? There must be only one
way for each critical system to perform, and everyone needs
to know it.
The objective of a process control system is to keep the
process within the critical safety control limits (see 06/2015
Beacon). It is important to understand that, when the process
exceeds the specified control limits, action is required. This
can include activating the ESD system. Operators must be
trained in what actions to take, and when.
When safety systems are not well-understood, problems can become worse,
because people may not rely on them and take the wrong actions. They might also
falsely rely on the safety system and expect it to take actions beyond what these
systems are capable of doing.

Did you know? What can you do?

 Safety systems, including ESDs, are designed,  Ask your supervisor or trainer how safety
programmed, and tested to meet the safety requirements systems are supposed to operate and why
of the process and equipment. All changes need a that is the case. The more you know, the
Management of Change (MOC) review (see Beacon better your response when needed.
07/2017).
 Make safety systems a topic for discussion
 Safety systems, just like pressure relief devices, are there at the next crew or safety committee
to protect, not to control the process (see Beacon meeting. If everyone thinks the systems
03/2016, “Safety Device or Control Device?”). operate differently, you have a problem!
 Safety systems have defined responses to power,  During Process Hazard Analyses (PHA) or
instrument air, or other utility failure. This information is MOC reviews of these critical safeguards,
often noted on the piping and instrumentation diagram be open and honest about what you know
(PID). and what occurs in the field. Any doubt
 Many companies have a Stop Work Authority policy, should be investigated so the systems
which allows, and even demands, that operators stop the function correctly.
process if it is out of control.

Understand how your safety systems work!

©AIChE2019. All rights reserved. Reproduction for non-commercial, educational purposes is encouraged. However, reproduction for any
commercial purpose without express written consent of AIChE is strictly prohibited. Contact us at ccps_beacon@aiche.org or 646-495-1371.

The Beacon is usually available in Afrikaans, Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Marathi, Mongolian, Persian (Farsi), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.